Mouthpiece for pipes



Patented May 19, 1931 UNITED s'ra'r i IDA"V STEPHEN A. MERicKo, or HrNcKLEY, MINNnsorA MOUTHPIECE non riens Application ined august 15,1929. serial No. 386,115.

This invention relates to mouth pieces for pipes and the like. y As pipes are normally smoked with the bowl at a lower level than the mouth end of the stem of the pipe and as in the ordinary pipe, there is nothing to prevent the tongue from coming in contact with the smoke hole at the outer end of the mouth piece, saliva is fed from the tongue of the smoker into the smoke opening in the stem and this saliva passes down through the stem and dampens the interior of the pipe, acting to partly block up the smoke opening through the stem, dampen the smoke as it passes through the stem and impart a disagreeable tasteto the smoke. Also this saliva absorbs more or less of the nicotine and fine particles of tobacco as the smoke passes through the smoke opening in the stem and quickly fouls the pipe, making it necessary for the user to often clean the same. Also at times, the saliva accumulates in the pipe to such an extent that the smoker as he draws on thepipe, lifts or draws this saliva into his mouth in distasteful form.

It is the object of this invention to provide a novel and improvedmouth piece for pipes and the like, which will act to prevent saliva from the mouth of the user being discharged into the stempof vthe pipe,there by always maintaining the pipe in dry, sweetl condition and preventing the smoking disadvaiitages above enumerated.

To this end, the invention consistsin the novel parts and novely combinations of parts,l

hereinafter defined in the claims and described in the following specification, made in connection with the accompanying drawings, whereinlike reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the various views, and, in which, v Fig. l is ak view in side elevation of pipe in the stem of which the present invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on theL line 2-2 'of Fig. yl, as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 8-8 of` Fig; 2 as indicated by the arrows, and Fig. 4 is a view in end elevation f the stem looking towards the mouth end of the same.

Referring to the drawings, apipe is illustrated including a bowl 5 of standard construction, and a stem 6 having a smoke 55 opening 7 therethrough and' fitting into the bowl 5 of the pipe in the usual manner.A rlhe stem 6 is illustrated as having the usual shoulders 6a at the mouth end of the same 'to permit the mouth end of the stem being readily held between the teeth 0f the smoker. f

In accordance with the present invention, a semicylindrical notch 8 is cut in the mouth end of the stem 6 and thisnotch is substantially vertically disposed and is set substantially normal to the smoke opening 7, so that it intersectsV the smoke opening. A short tube 9 is tted within the mouth end of the smoke opening 7 and projects from 70 the smoke opening a short distance 4into the notch 8, the portion'of the tube projecting into the notch being beveled at its edges, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A guard 10 is provided to prevent the smoker from inserting his tonguey into the notch 8 and in contact withv the outer end of the tube 9 when the pipe is `being smoked. Whilethis guard may be'variably constructed, in the embodiment ofthe invention shown, the guard consists of se a circular ring constructed from two semicircular pieces of wire having their 'ends twisted together and projecting atV right angles from'the plane of the ring propel'. To iX the guard l0 in place on the mouth end of l the stem 6, small openings 6b are bored in the outer end of thestem atrthe two sides of theV notch 8 and the twisted ends of the guard 10 are inserted within these two openings, and the guard is irmlypressed inwardly against the outer end. of the stem by means of a hot iron or the like. The hot iron will impart heat to the two wires forming the guard l0, as well as to the hard rubber" or similar materialforming the stem, andthe material Yforming the stem will melt slightly to 'vulcanize the twisted ends of the Ywire in place within the openings 6b and to also cause the outer end-of the stem to be vulcanized about the side portions 'of the LTE guard l0. The circle formed by the guard is considerably larger in diameter' than the smoke openings 7 and the wires forming the guard will, accordingly, extend across the outer end of the notch 8 between the two sides of the mouth end of the stem. it will also be noted that the guard 10 is situated in outwardly spaced relationship from the outer end of the tube 9 and from the inner portion of the notch 8.

The pipe, when being smoked, will be held between t 1e teeth of the userin the customary manner, and the smoke will be drawn from the bowl 5 through the smoke opening 7 of the stem 6, and the opening in the tube 9 and the opening in the guard lO into the mouth of the smoker. rlhe guard 10 will prevent the tongue of the smoker from coming in contact with the opening at 'the outer end of Athe tube 9 and feeding saliva to the same. The gi rd l0 also prevents the tongue from coming in contact with the surfaces at the outer end of the stem adjacent the notch 8, so that very little saliva can come in contact with these surfaces. Whatever moisture does strike the surfaces of the end of the stem adjacent the notch 8 will not be carried into the opening in the tube 9, due to the fact that the outer end of the tube projects for a short distance into the notch 8 and this portion of the tube 9 is beveled. Practically no saliva, therefore, can enter through the tube 9 into the smoke opening 7 in the stem and drain downwardly toward the bowl of the pipe. As the guard l0 is of considerably greater diameter than the opening at the end of the tube 9, the smoke as it drawn through the tube 9 will pass directly into the mouth through the opening in the guard without striking the wire forniiug the guard. Accordingly, small tobacco particles and nicotine will not strike the guard to harden and condense thereon and7 similarly, as the smoke passes directly into the mouth, very little, if any, of the small particles will strike the end of the stem adjacent the notch 8, to accumulate and condense thereon. VVhen the pipe, While lit, is being held in the hand between puffs on the pipe, it often occurs that smoke will rise from the bowl and be discharged from the smoke opening in the stem. lf the end of the stem adjacent the notch 8, together with the guard 10 were to form a substantially closed chamber, small tobacco particles in the smoke would very likely accumulate on the end of the stem adjacent the notch 8 and there condense. With the present construction, however, due to the fact that the notch 8 is open to the air at both top and bottom and also due to the fact that the guard l0 does not close off the outer portion of the notch from the air, there is a ready outlet for any smoke passing through the tube 9 when the lit pipe is held in the hand and it is found that this smoke will pass freely either upwardly or downwardly between the guard l0 and the end of the stem adjacent the notch 8. The smoke, accordingly, will not accumulate between the guard 10 and the portion of the stem adjacent the notch 8 even when the pipe is not being puffed to soil and cause accumulations of small particles of tobacco on the guard l0, the end of the stem adjacent the notch 8 and the outer end of the tube 9.

lVith the present mouth piece construction for pipes, it will be seen' that both the mouth piece and the bowl of the pipe as well as the smoke opening in the stein, may be always maintained in clean, sanitary con* dition free from accuimilations of saliva and line particles of tobacco and nicotine.

The device has been amply demonstrated in actual practice, and has been found to be very successful for the purposes intended. Vlhe mouth piece construction of the present invention does not alter the appearance of the pipe when viewed from the side, as shown in Fig. l, and does not detract from the appearance of the pipe when otherwise viewed.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is l. A mouth piece for pipes comprising, a stem having a smoke opening running therethrough and a tongue guard disposed in spaced relationship outwardly from the mouth end of said smoke opening to prevent rthe tongue of the smoker from coming in contact with the smoke opening, said tongue guard having an opening therethrough in direct alinement with said smoke opening.

2. A mouth piece for pipes comprising, a stem having a smoke opening running therethrough and also having a notch at the mouth end thereof substantially normal to said smoke opening and intersecting the same and a guard member secured to the mouth end of said stem and running across said notch to prevent the insertion of the tongue into said notch, said guard member having an opening therethrough in alinement with said smoke opening.

3. A mouth piece for pipes comprising, a stem having a smoke opening running therethrough and also having a notch cut in the mouth end thereof extending substantially normal to said smoke opening and intersect- 4ing the same, a tube inserted in the mouth end of said smoke opening and projecting into said notch a short distance and a tongue guard spaced from the mouth end of said tube to prevent the tongue from coming in Contact therewith, said tongue guard having an aperture therethrough, the

center of which is alined Wit-h the aXial center of said tube.

4. A mouth piece for pipes comprising, a stem having a smoke opening running therethrough and also having a notch at the mouth endof the stem extending substantially normal to said smoke opening and intersecting the same, and a tube inserted Within the mouth end of said smoke opening and projecting a short distance into said notch, said tube at its mouth end being bevelled at its edges to prevent saliva from running into the opening of the tube.

5. A mouth piece for pipes comprising, a stem having a smoke opening running therethrough and a Wire loop forming a tongue guard disposed outwardly from the outer end of said smoke opening7 the opening in said loop being of considerably greater diameter than the outer end of said smoke opening and concentric therewith.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

STEPHEN A. MERICKO. 

